


I Want What he Has

by Little_Anxiety_Plant



Category: Voltron - Fandom
Genre: Angst, BDSM, Light BDSM, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Violence, love bug, love bug au, near-death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-02-09 22:10:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 11,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12897879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Anxiety_Plant/pseuds/Little_Anxiety_Plant
Summary: The Coalition is growing strong, but some societies demand something in return, especially if they're not already under Zarkon's command. Lady Calla's mission wasn't hard, but the Paladins had to pay quite the price; one of their best catching the love bug virus. How are they gonna deal?This work has been abandoned since I have, unfortunately, lost all previously written chapters. I'm very sorry. :(





	1. What Kind of Planet is this

The Paladins were gathered together in the common room, sitting and talking casually. Coran announced over the loud speaker that they had approached the Valenci System. The Paladins made their way to the viewing platform where Allura was landing the castle-ship. They stood together and listened to Coran explain what they were there for, and what they should be wary of.

"Now, the Valenci System is very modern and complex. The people of this planet are well known for their seductive tendencies, so try not to fall under their trap. This mission should be quick and serious, so no horse-play." He paced slowly. "You should avoid the woods and anywhere too densely populated. Love bugs infest the place. The Valencian people are immune, but we are not so be careful." 

Allura stepped off her platform and came to stand with Coran. "The leader, Lady Calla, knows we're here to discuss her joining the coalition. She would be a very powerful ally," She added. "You cannot ruin this for us." She glared specifically at Lance.

Lance noticed this and raised a brow. "What'd I do?"

Allura stopped her glaring and once again looked at them as a group, ignoring lance's question. "Be kind and respectful. You're Voltron. This shouldn't be difficult."

Allura left with the Paladins, and Coran stayed behind to keep an eye on the ship. As soon as they left the platform, they group looked at the planet in awe. It was nothing like the planets they had seen in recent days. This was entirely untouched by the Galra empire. The streets were brick red and lined with gold. The buildings were lavish and reminded the Paladins of Greek architecture. There were red roses everywhere, and large trees with fall-colored leaves lined the streets, though they didn't look dead. They were more like Japanese maple trees; how the leaves were always a deep burgundy-red all year round.

Allura led the group through the streets, telling them not to cause any trouble while she and Shiro spoke with the Queen. Hunk and Lance wandered off to a cart making elaborate street food, while Keith and pidge found themselves watching a street performer. The performer was pretty. She spoke a language neither of them understood, and showed off some mystical abilities. She would turn roses into doves with a snap of her finger and hypnotize others with just the sound of her voice.

Pidge leaned more toward Keith to speak to him despite the crowd. "Think it's all just illusion? That volunteer is probably paid."

Keith nodded, agreeing. "Let's leave. This isn't even that good."

The pair agreed, and left the crowd. They examined items at different little kiosks. One seller had a large variety of "foreign" tech, which interested Pidge. Keith broke from her and found someone in a blue tent decorated with gold embroidery, who said he was a fortune teller. His eyes were covered with a blindfold and a softly glowing round-ish crystal sat in front of him on a table. 

"Hello, young traveller." He sounded light, calming.

"So you tell fortunes, huh," Keith asked. He examined the room and sat on his knees across from the fortune teller.

"That I do... Would you like your fortune told?"

"What's your price?" Keith wouldn't have trusted someone like this in a million years, but he had nothing better to do.

"The first reading is free, my boy." He smiled, leaning forward slightly.

"Mm... Fine. Why the hell not?" Keith crossed his legs.

The man took Keith's hands. "Wonderful. Let's begin, hm?"

The man mumbled something in a foreign language. The air in the room picked up and became colder. The light of the crystal grew stronger and changed colors. While it started purple, it cycled and ended on a teal-blue color.

"Ah, yes... I see you're someone very important... The savior of the universe, they call you.." The man set his hands on the crystal. "You have a very strong aura... The soul of a fighter. You feel Overwhelmed. You have no time to relax. Ah, but I see someone here... Someone who helps you to do the impossible... He's very special to you..."

Keith got flustered. He cut off the fortune teller. "Alright, that's enough..! Thanks for the reading." He abruptly got up and left the tent, regathering himself and shaking his head, walking forward and immediately bumping into someone "fuck, watch where you're-" when he looked up, he realized it was just Lance.

"Whoa, calm down, dude. We're going to the castle. Shiro called. Apparently miss princess wants us to do something." Lance rubbed the arm Keith bumped into as he spoke.

"Do you know what it is?" Keith started walking with Lance.

"Not a clue. She just... Needs us to do something and if we do it right, she'll join the coalition."

Keith nodded once and looked forward. The two caught up to Hunk and Pidge who were waiting at the edge of the marketplace. The four headed in the direction of the castle where they'd receive their assignment.


	2. Assignment Received

The castle was front and center in the capital city. It was built from glittering marble, each detail expertly carved. Entering through the main gates, the Paladins examined the front gardens. There were small ponds to either side of them, the same red-leafed trees all along the outer walls of the castle. Each pond had Cupid statues holding large leaves with both hands, which water poured out of and back into the pond. Gardeners tended to the garden, filling bird feeders, cleaning bird baths, polishing statues, or tending to the flowers. All the gardeners looked the same. They wore while clothes with long sleeves, the hems of which had leaf-shaped green embroidery. There were rose bushes lining the wall of the castle itself, and the large and intricately carved wooden doors were open, with pristine knights standing watch. Their expressions were stoic, but they kept a hand on their blades, ready to fight if need be.

The Paladins entered the castle and down a hallway, directly into the throne room. It was just as elegant as the outside. The room was lit by floating flares of light. A red carpet lined with golden embroidery led directly to a set of gold thrones atop a small platform. Each one had intricate carvings and wooden panels, offering a break from the glittering gold. There were tall marble pillars lining the walls, and curved marble stairs on either side of the throne, leading up to a balcony that encircled the whole room. The queen stood near the throne platform with Shiro and Allura, making polite conversation. 

The queen was, for lack of a better word, small. She wore a fluffy red dressed, lined with white fur on the top and bottom. A shawl adorned her arms and her hair and chest were decorated in elaborate jewels and gold glitter. She looked like a child who had gotten into her mother's clothes. Lance automatically assumed she must be smaller that Pidge and made the mistake of saying that out loud.

Pidge hit his arm and marched forward, joining Shiro and Allura.

"Ok, seriously, /what did I do?/" Lance stood and rubbed his arm for the second time today.

"Just... Shut up, Lance. Don't say anything," Keith said. He shook his head and joined the group as well.

Hunk set an arm on Lance's shoulder. "Just be careful with what you say out loud... This is really important." Like a good friend, Hunk led Lance forward to the group. Lance stood a bit away, still hurt by his friend's words.

"I'm very pleased that you could all make it," Lady Calla said. She even sounded a bit like a child. "The task I have for you is not simple, so be warned."

The group nodded, understanding. 

Lady Calla smiled sweetly. "Wonderful! Now, please come with me to the war room." She led the group to what she called 'the war room,' thought it was certainly an overstatement. It was an averagely sized room, where a map table sat in the middle with fourteen chairs surrounding. She sat at the head, and the rest took their respective seats close to her so they could hear easily.

"Here's the capital." A glowing red marker appeared over the city. "I need you to travel... Here." A glowing blue marker appeared two feet away from the capital, over the drawing of a cave. "These caves are infested with dangerous creatures, but there is a crystal there that we use to power our cities. The one that powers the capital is dying, and that is very unadvisable if we wish to keep our dome barriers up and our fields farmable." A few other markers appeared on the map as she spoke. "You may want to avoid these forests on your way there. This path here is much safer. We wouldn't want the saviors of the universe to get hurt, now would we?"

Shiro spoke up. "What would happen if we did cut through those forests? It seems like a much quicker way to the caves."

"It certainly is, but humans aren't immune to the love bugs. They're harmless to us, but not for you. So it's best to avoid them," the Queen replied.

"How will we get the crystal out? I assume it's probably very large," pidge says, examining the table.

"Oh, yes, of course. You'll be leading an extraction team. The team are experts on the crystals and know how to remove them. They just have no way of safely getting to the crystals."

There were a few more questions asked before the Paladins were sent to get prepared, Allura staying behind for more diplomatic discussion that the Paladins just wouldn't be able to understand.

The Paladins were led by two guards to a platform outside, where a vehicle was being readied for the trip. The back of it was open, and there was a lot of tech on it. Computers, samplers, and the like. The most prominent of these gadgets is what the Paladins assumed was the extraction device. It was a large, four-pronged claw connected to a short pedestal where the crystal would be held during the ride back to the city. A few scientists were working to prepare their journey. One stepped up to the Paladins.

"You must be the Paladins of Voltron." He bowed to them. "My name is Remmi. I'm the head crystal expert. It is an honor to be working with you." His voice was high and nasally. He was thin and had white, curly hair. He wore small round glasses on the bridge of his nose, and a white lab coat with cobalt blue embroidery. It seemed that these embroidery colors offered a bit of status among the queen's staff.

Shiro chuckled, flattered. "It's nothing, really-"

Pidge spoke up, cutting him off. "How does that claw work? Is it the device you use to extract the crystal?"

"My, a curious one, aren't you?" Remmi smiled. "Here, let me show you." He led Pidge away and toward the vehicle. He had her step up onto the back and showed her around the computers and how he moved the claw with a wave of his hand. "Crystal-based alchemy is very important to us. We harness the energy of the crystals that the goddess gifts us, and use it to power our cities. Without them, we wouldn't even have clean water to drink."

"Wow..." Pidge was in awe, completely starry-eyed. She wanted to learn everything about this "crystal alchemy." Especially if she could do it herself.

Meanwhile, the boys were helping load up another truck with other supplies. It was a two-day trip just to get to the caves since they weren't taking the shortcut, so this truck was filled with anything they may need to sleep, eat, or do their business. The only people on the mission would be the Paladins and three of the alchemists, so it was only enough for them.

Once the two vehicles were packed and ready to go, the gates of the platform opened and the vehicles were both driven out, hunk and Pidge on the alchemist's vehicle, while Shiro, Lance, and Keith were all in the supply truck. They were waved off by Allura and the queen before heading out into the unknown wilderness of Valenci.


	3. Long Trips

The first day of the trip was quite uneventful. They drove through the safer woods of Valenci, near a river. When the sun set, Remmi had said to set up near the river. They found a flat, open area of land close to it and started to set up for the night. Remmi had used a small black cube and a bit of some unknown liquid to start a fire, only needed some firewood to keep it going. Shiro offered to do it, taking Keith with him. Hunk and Lance pulled food out of the truck to make a meal for the group, figure the two of them together had the best chance at making something good with what they had.

After half an hour, Shiro and Keith had returned with two armfuls of firewood, and hunk and Lance were halfway through cooking their dinner. Pidge had found a comfy spot to lay down in her open tent, reading some book. Keith sat on the ground, though he didn't really want to stop moving. He spent too much time sitting around in the truck. 

Dinner was a vegetable stew, served in bowls to everyone. Remmi thought it was brilliant. The people in the city preferred their meals to be extravagant; anything to show off their wealth. 

"We should probably get to sleep now so that we can continue early in the morning," Shiro said once everyone was done eating.

It was agreed that he was right, but Pidge and Lance weren't happen with it. Pidge wanted to stay up and keep reading and Lance just didn't want to go to bed. But they both knew they had to. Pidge zipped up her tent, refusing to share. However, Lance crawled in with hunk since they were both cuddlers and knew no one else would be ok with it. Keith went into his own tent, while Shiro told the alchemists to sleep and that he'd keep first watch.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Lance had woken up with the innate need to pee. He tries to just go back to sleep but his bladder wasn't having it. He wiggled out from under hunk's arm, very careful not to wake him, and snuck out of the tent. Shiro was sat against a tree and gave him a confused look, nodding at him as if to ask "what are you doing?" Lance mouthed "I gotta take a piss," and Shiro's expression turned to understanding. He nodded, letting Lance go about his business.

Lance snuck away into the woods where he believed he wouldn't get caught, but where he could still see the light of the fire. He undid his pants and peed against a tree, shaking off and zipping back up. He swatted at a bug on his arm and left the tree, coming back to the camp. By the time he got back, Keith and Shiro were swapping out watch. Shiro had just zipped up his tent and Keith stood leaning against the same tree Shiro had sat at. 

Lance looked at Keith and waved, Keith returning the greeting by lifting a hand. He watched Lance crawl back into his tent and yawned. He really didn't want to be woken up. Lance repositioned Hunk's arm and drifted back off to sleep. 

Morning was, to put it simply, rough. One of the vehicles wouldn't start, and Remmi found out that the queen miscalculated the time it would take to travel to the caves. The trip would be five days instead of the original two. They knew they could probably ration their food a bit better, and hunk had already gotten started on figuring out the best way to do that with the help of an alchemist who knew what I the wilderness they could forage and hunt. Keith was getting increasingly frustrated with the truck not working and had stormed off into the woods. Lance had tried to help, but "did more harm than good," as Pidge put it, so he left for the river to relax.

Lance walked along the water's edge so that he could barely hear the commotion back at camp and looked around before stripping to nothing. He stepped into the lukewarm water, a chill running up his spine as he waded in deeper. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed existing in it. It felt a bit like home. But his calm was short-lived, as Keith had caught him.

"What the fuck are you doing? Get your clothes on and get back to camp," Keith said. His voice was loud and he was frustrated. 

Lance turned. He spoke before thinking. "Maybe you could join me. I'll show you how to relax a little." There was a flirtatiousness to his tone that caused Keith to get a bit flustered. 

"Shut up. Get out." Keith stomped away, not wanting to deal with Lance so early.

Lance, on the other hand, was dumbfounded. How did that come out? Why did that come out? Did he seriously just say that? And to /Keith?/ his mind ran at a million miles per hour as he waded out of the water and pulled his clothes back on. He made his way back to camp, where the truck was miraculously brought back to life. Everyone was ready to go. Lance was ushered into the truck, and off they went.


	4. Something in the Water

The next two days were uneventful. They'd drive for a while, stop for short meals, then keep going. At night before dinner, they'd hunt a small animal before going to bed and the whole cycle would start again.

For two days, this was the normal. For two days they were used to it. And then Lance's strange mannerisms got worse. At first it was little things. He was more playful with Keith and less pushy. Then he was flirty. It was small. Little compliments; light, fleeting touches. And then it got dirty. The first time it happened was on night three.

Everyone was sitting around the fire. They had some time to kill, so they were talking and having a good time. Remmi told stories about his time in the castle. Shiro told tales of his time at the garrison.

"Man, Iverson would have chained me up if he knew I'd done that," said Shiro, ending his story.

As everyone laughed, Lance leaned over to Keith. Again, he spoke without a thought in his mind. "I'd let you chain me up...~"

"Ok Lance, what the /fuck/ is going on," Keith turned quickly to him, everyone falling silent. "You're being weird and disgusting. Your joke isn't funny. Knock it the fuck off."

Lance was taken back. He was completely hurt and didn't know why. "I- what? I don't-" 

"Don't 'what, I don't' me. Stop your shit before you get cut." Keith was fuming.

"No, Keith, I really don't- I don't know-" Lance didn't know what to say. 

Remmi spoke up. "You're saying he isn't usually like this, yes?"

"No. He isn't. I mean, sometimes he's an ass, but he doesn't say shit like that."

Remmi mulled over this. "Blue paladin, please come with me."

Lance hesitated. Something in him told him it isn't a good idea to leave Keith's side, but Keith hated him right now. He stood and followed Remmi to the science vehicle. Remmi drew blood in a way that Lance recognized, and put it into a reading device. He watched the screen intently, a language showing up on one window, and a close-up image of his blood cells showing up in another.

"Just as I suspected." Remmi turned back to the Paladins and excused Lance to where he was already sitting. "Your friend has caught the Love Bug Virus."

"Well... What does that mean," Hunk asked as he eyed Lance who was equally as confused.

"Over time, Lance will not be able to easily perceive the world around him. He'll only be able to pay attention to the center of his affection, which would be the red paladin. He must have been bitten by a Love Bug a few days ago." Remmi took his seat again. "The worst thing you can do is turn away his affection. It may do permanent damage. In this state, he could die from a broken heart. The venom is very strong on humans."

Lance got bright red. "Keith is /not/ the center of my affection. I swear."

"He may not have been when you were bitten. But that's not how Love Bugs operate. It's the first person you see after being bitten that becomes your fixation." Remmi really knew his stuff. 

"How long do we have until he totally succumbs to it," Shiro asked. "We need him for the mission."

"It's hard to say... Maybe a few more days? It tends to vary."

"What about recovery? If he's all over Keith and won't leave his side, we wouldn't really even be able to form Voltron if it takes too long to go away," Pidge mentioned. Everyone knew she had a point.

Remmi nodded. "Yes, I understand the situation... The virus doesn't last long. Just a few weeks. Although there is no antidote to speed up the process, so you'll have to make do and work around his condition."

Keith was already dreading the next two weeks. What is Lance gonna do? Keith wouldn't want to hurt him, but he definitely didn't want Lance to do anything embarrassing in front of the others. As he thought about it, a small part of him thought it might be nice, having someone giving him undivided attention. Someone loving him unconditionally and uncontrollably.

"This is all good and fun, but what the hell am I supposed to do," Keith chimed in. Lance looked hurt.

"You'll have to deal with it. Of course there's ways to sway lance's on comings, but they won't last long. The best thing to do is to let it happen. He shouldn't do anything too promiscuous," Remmi stated. "Love bugs bring about romantic love, not sexual kind."

This was a relief to everyone. They didn't need Lance to be any more flirty and hormonal as he already was, but all of this was raining on lance's parade. He didn't think that flirting and sexual innuendos were all his personality had to offer. But according to his friends, that's how it seemed. All he wanted to do was crawl away and hide until all of this was over.

So that's what he did.

Lance was quiet as he walked away from the group and crawled into the back seat of the truck. It certainly wasn't comfortable. His long legs had to be bent if he wanted to lay on his back, and of course the seats were only so big. But he was alone with his thoughts and that's just what he wanted. He could hear the group laughing at a joke someone said, and he couldn't help but think it was a slight against himself. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore it. It took what seemed like hours to fall asleep, and when he did, it wasn't very deep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Personal stuff that you may not find important:
> 
> So I'm a senior in highschool, right? Well we do this thing called a senior project, and it's basically a continuous, nine-month long project that determines whether or not you get to graduate. This project is taking up a lot of my time, so that's why I'm not updating as regularly as I did with Your Song Wasn't Necessary. That one updated so fast because we were on autumn break.
> 
> I'm writing this a bit slower since I am a fairly busy person, so please bear with me. This is most likely to get updated on weekends only, since that's what I have to most free time to write.
> 
> Thanks for understanding!
> 
> -Lanterns


	5. Hearts Ablaze

As the days drew by, Lance got worse. Even over the course of just a few hours, you could see the change. In one day he went from pensive and quiet to lively and flirtatious again, though it was all directed at Keith. It was all sweet and gooey. He brought Keith wild flowers and made crowns out of them. The other Paladins found Keith's reactions very entertaining. Keith, however, wanted to knock lance's teeth out. The days before, Lance was able to refrain and control himself. He knew that what he was doing wasn't normal Lance. But now, his thoughts were jumbled and Keith was all he could see properly. Keith quickly became the absolute center of his universe.

On the fifth night- the last night before they'd be reaching the caves, Lance made a bit of a scene. He was to sleep in a tent with Hunk as he had the previous nights. The night watch rotations would start with Shiro and end with hunk, as it was for the four previous nights. But Lance didn't like this setup. He wanted to be in a tent with Keith. Everyone else was already in their tents, wanting Lance to just stop; but Lance, Shiro, and Keith were all kept awake by the argument.

"Lance, we already told you that you can't," Shiro said, sounding quite frustrated. This argument had gone on for fifteen minutes, far too long for an argument with Lance.

"Jesus fucking- fine. Just- you can sleep with me," Keith hesitantly agreed. He just wanted to sleep and if that meant letting Lance sleep in his tent with him, then so be it.

Lance lit up like a Christmas tree. He was so happy. He followed Keith into the tent and as soon as Keith had closed the flap to the tent, Lance leaned forward with open arms for a tight hug.

"Hey, whoa, ok, no." Keith pushed him away, hands on his shoulders. "I said you could share the tent with me. Not that we'd be touching or cuddling." As soon as Keith said this, he regretted it. Lance looked like he was about to cry.

Keith sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and knitting his brows. He thought about it, considered it. He figured that no harm could really be done. "Fine.. Fine. We can.... We can cuddle. Just... Don't cry." Lance is gonna owe him so much after he gets back to normal.

Lance was one again happy as can be, waiting for Keith to lay down before laying his head on Keith's chest. He was nice and comfortable, and Keith shifted so that he was as well. This was fine. He was fine. Everything was fine. 

The next morning was just as uneventful as all the other mornings. Though of course this time, Keith woke up with Lance on top of him. He gently pushed Lance off and crawled out of the tent, stretching and seeing that everyone else- aside from Pidge- was up and getting read to leave. Hunk was whipping up a quick breakfast and the alchemists were making sure all of their equipment was in working order. Shiro was getting out of the back of the trunk as he called Keith over. 

"Yeah?" Keith asked as he made his way around the back of the truck.

"How was last night? Did Lance... You know... Try anything," Shiro inquired. He seemed worried.

"Not really... He just wanted to cuddle. I said fuck it, and we cuddled. It was fine. Nothing weird." Keith knew that sounded suspicious, but he was telling the truth. Nothing weird happened. Unless cuddling was weird, then something weird definitely happened.

"Cuddling... Is a little weird," Shiro said. He had a brow lifted and a look of disapproval. "And it really doesn't seem like you."

"I just wanted him to shut up. Don't read into it." Keith got defensive and walked away, knowing Shiro wouldn't bring it up around others.

When he returned to the group, Lance was up and helping the alchemists with a bit of heavy lifting that they couldn't do on their own. He was lifting some metal box into the back of their vehicle, putting it wherever Remmi pointed. Pidge was watching as another alchemist was testing the drill.

"The drill seems to be in order, Rem," said the alchemist.

"Good. Then as soon as we eat our morning meal, we'll leave for the caves. I'd hate to be here any longer than we have to," he stated. 

At that moment, Hunk announced that breakfast was ready. It looked like oatmeal, and tasted sweet like it too. Keith was always amazed at how good Hunk was at making alien foods taste like things they'd eat back on earth. 

After breakfast was eaten and utensils were packed away, everyone got into their respective vehicles and drove off, Lance clinging to Keith's arm as he watched stoically out the window. Keith's face was burning and he just wanted to push Lance off, but there really was something nice about the attention. So for now, he allowed it.


	6. Into the Heart of the Mountain

You never would have guessed that the caves were damp and dreary considering it's surroundings. The entrance was at the bottom of a mountain, and surrounded by trees and foliage. There were leaves on the ground, and small animals living within the trees and near the cave. The first thing the travelers saw when approaching the cave was a sign with red letters, DO NOT ENTER. DANGEROUS.

"Well that's lovely," Keith said sarcastically as he got out of the truck.

"I'm sure it can't be that bad. We've faced worse," chimed Hunk, ever the optimist.

The alchemists unloaded the drill onto a different, much more geographically versatile vehicle where one of them sat, ready to follow the Paladins into the cave. 

"Remember. All we're doing is clearing the way to the crystal. Don't do anything extraneous," said Shiro. He was worried mostly about Lance.

Speaking of Lance, he was making Googly eyes at Keith all while they were getting ready to go into the cave. Hunk had to actually pick Lance up and set him somewhere else to get him to focus on the mission. It was decided in that moment that Keith and Lance had to be separated through the duration of the mission. There was no way this was going to go smoothly if they were near each other.

As the groups entered the cave, it was like they had travelled to a completely different planet. The stone walls were scattered with glowing spots, like glow-in-the dark paint had been wildly splattered against them. Plants grew through the cracks in the ground beneath them. Crystalline stalactites shot out from the ceiling, nearly brushing their heads. Rushing water could be heard in the distance along with the scattering of bugs and the chittering of whatever dwells deeper within the cave. It's as if they could sense the presence of other beings.

The first attack was sudden. They were dark creatures and moved quickly. Shiro almost couldn't react in time. He fell on his back as the creature jumped for his face, screeching as it did. It's screeched in his face and saliva dripped from it's jagged, pointed teeth. Shiro fired up his hand and burned the back of the creature's neck, giving him enough time to knock it off of him and stand back up. 

"Get ready, guys," Shiro ordered. He didn't think they'd have to start so quickly.

Keith quickly took this first one out, and the team worked their way forward, this time with their weapons out and ready for anything that may come for them. They marched forward through the caves. Quickly they came to a split. There were two directions they could go, so Shiro turned to the alchemists. 

"Which way," he asked.

Remmi answered, pulling up a screen. "Left. Follow the sound of the water."

The group followed Shiro into the left entrance, following the sound of the water. A few feet in, they came upon a slightly larger and rounder portion of the cave. It was a nest for those creatures. Slowly, two by two, eyes lit up the walls of the cavern. The center of the cavern had a pillar of webs, but these creatures certainly didn't look like spiders.

Immediately, everyone reacted. Hunk and Lance stayed close the the alchemists, shooting and blasting what they could. Keith went right in- metaphorical guns blazing- ripping the screeching creatures in half with his blade. 

"There's too many of these fucking things..!" Keith yelled. He was frustrated. It was as if every time one died, two more replaced it.

"Step back..!" Called one of the alchemists. She threw something glowing and pink into the center of the cavern and five seconds later, a blast of white smoke and a loud ringing could be heard. It was piercing and everyone covered their ears in pain, but all of the creatures had dropped as if they'd died from the sound.

"They're aren't out for long so we better get moving," said the chemist frantically. 

The group rushed out of the cavern and back into the long, dark caves. They walked for what felt like hours. The cave walls all looked the same, but the sound of rushing water getting louder and louder comforted them. They knew they must be getting closer to the cavern that the crystal must reside in. 

After a break, ten minutes of walking, and a steep incline, they reached a gigantic cavern where the sound of the rushing water was coming from. It was a large, spherical cavern much like the one before. Two waterfalls rushed down from either side into underground lakes. The walls and ground were both covered in the same glowing plant matter that lit up the rest of the cave system. More crystal structures littered the ground. A few were covered in vines so much so that you couldn't even see what was underneath. The most notable and most important detail, however, was the creature sleeping soundly and somewhat guarding the crystal.

It was laying curled up like a dog, but he surely wasn't the size of one. He was easily eleven feet tall. His claws were long and dirty, and his sharp canines jutted out of his jaw. It looked as close as they could get to something on earth, and yet not at all at the same time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week is finals week! I'll finally have two weeks to do nothing until the next semester starts, which also means that I'll have the chance to write more and possibly even finish this fic.
> 
> A few things have happened in my personal life which are preventing me from writing to my fullest, or honestly writing at all. But I'm slowly recovering, and I think that writing might help so I may end up coming out with a few depressing/experimental pieces.
> 
> A friend of mine has even helped me with two really good, not depressing ideas. She'll be co-writing it with me, and likely doing most of the editing since I'm not a great writer on my own.


	7. The Beast's Den

The group had no idea how they should be reacting to this creature being here. Hunk suggested sneaking around it. One of the alchemists mentioned how the drill would be far too loud. The creature would wake up and attack anyway. Keith chimed in saying that they should attack head on and kill it. But Remmi said that this creature is slowing going extinct. That they mustn't hurt it.

"What if we restrained it," said Lance after nearly ten minutes of back and forth. 

Everyone stopped in their argument and looked at him.

"Restrained it how," asked Remmi.

"Like... With chains or something. Or if we distracted it. There's gotta be something."

At first, the Paladins didn't want to consider it. Surely Lance couldn't be able to think straight at this moment, but the more they thought about it, the more they thought it could work. 

"That's an excellent idea, blue paladin," Remmi said to ease up the silence. He gave everyone a task. He told his alchemists to collect samples of what they could since the two of them weren't very cut out to do the physical labor that might be needed to hold back the beast. The Paladins were told to collect the thickest and longest vines they could find. As Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Shiro broke from the group, Pidge told Remmi that she really didn't want to do that. Instead, Remmi told her to help him with analyzing samples that the alchemists brought to them. She was happy to oblige.

Hunk separated with Lance while Shiro went with Keith. They each went to separate ends of the cavern, since they both knew Lance couldn't be near Keith. 

"You know, I never noticed before but Keith has such nice hair. It's so long and soft," Lance said. He sounded far-off and dreamy. He wasn't even paying attention as Hunk set vines in his arms.

"Yeah, you've already said that three times today, buddy."

"No, but, like," Lance paused. "He's... /really/ pretty. All I want to is hold him and kiss that beautiful face and his hard-"

"Oh-Kay, Lance, let's stop there. Help me cut these vines. This was your idea, remember?" Hunk had really heard enough over the past few days about how beautiful Lance thought Keith was.

Meanwhile, Keith and Shiro were having their own conversation about Lance. 

"Do you think that all those things Lance keeps saying about me are true," Keith inquired. He pulled some vines free from where they grew up the cavern wall. "I mean... He was flirty before."

"If he was like the before, maybe it's just really intense now?" Shiro didn't know what to say. He never noticed Lance being overly affectionate toward Keith. Actually, he noticed the opposite. "Are you sure he was even really flirting with you?"

"I mean, yeah." Keith pulled the vines free and started to collect the longest ones in a pile, cutting where it was needed with his dagger. "He /casually/ calls me samurai. People don't just /do/ that."

"It's just a nickname. It can't mean that much." Although, now that he thought about it, Shiro realized that Keith was the only one with a nickname.

Almost as if reading his mind, Keith mentioned his exact thoughts. "Yeah. That's what I thought. But no one else has a nickname. /it's just me./" a moment of silence. "What if he was into me and all of this is gonna ruin it?"

"Do you want him to be interested in you, Keith?" Clearly that's not something Keith meant to say out loud. 

"No! Of course not. I just like the attention. Shut up, back off."

Shiro sighed. "If you want my advice... I don't think you should pursue it... He has a lot of emotional baggage and considering our situation, we should probably all stay professional. Relationships could ruin the whole dynamic of Voltron."

Keith stayed quiet. He had nothing to say, but he knew that Shiro had a point. He shouldn't put his own selfish wants before the needs of the entire universe. 

After half an hour of collecting anything they'd need and worrying at least three times that the beast had awoken, they had set their trap. The idea was to restrain the beast with the vines and distract it long enough with their own bodies and weapons that the alchemists could have enough time to extract the crystal and make a clean getaway. Hunk slowly approached the beast, vines in hand and tied each one around each paw and the beasts's neck. The other end of the vines were attached to a cable on the little car with the drill.

The car was driven as far away as it possibly could be. The two alchemists removed the drill and brought it over to the crystal, setting it down carefully and pressing some buttons on the interface to get it started. It automatically started extracting rocks and dirt from around the crystal, but the mechanism woke the beast and he was not happy about it. 

The Paladins weren't ready for what happened next. The beast roared and the vines tore apart, as if they were a loose thread in a shirt. The first thing the beast had seen was Shiro, so he lunged for him. Hunk was ready though, and blasted at the creature. The beast whirled around to hunk, charging right for him. The other Paladins sprang into action, defending each other and the alchemists from the creature. 

Without their lions, this battle certainly wasn't easy. Shiro noted that they all needed to train more without the lions. Keith had heard the sound of what he assumed was the drill breaking, and in his moment of distraction, the beast ran forward to tackle him. Lance saw this and in his current mindset he had one thing on his mind: keep Keith safe. 

Lance ran forward, pushing Keith out of the way and to the ground, the beast instead attacking Lance, as he had been in the way. His armor of course took most of the blow out of his own body, but the force was so strong that his mind didn't have time to react. Once Keith had re-gathered himself and sat up to see Lance getting tackled by the beast, he went into panic mode and stood with his bayard ready, running forward to attack. Shiro and hunk were already to their feet again and doing the same as Keith. 

Keith managed to slash at it's hind leg. It splattered his armor with blood, but the creature didn't react much other than a loud roar. He was too busy trying to dig at lance's armor in order to better eat his meal. He did manage quite a bit of damage on the armor, getting a few good scratches on lance's chest. Hunk stood afar, shooting over and over in the hopes of not hurting the beast, but instead distracting it. Shiro ran forward, fist fired up. The prosthetic upgrade was able to give enough force behind his punch to get a more physical reaction. The creature lifted it's head and turned to Shiro. 

"The crystal is ready, guys!" Pidge called. "Hurry up and get Lance out of there!"

Keith looked between Shiro and Lance, unsure what to do. 

Hunk spoke up. "We got it! Just get Lance somewhere safer right now, we'll catch up."

Keith nodded once, putting on his game face again. He lifted lance's limp body over both shoulders and followed the alchemists and Pidge out of the giant cavern.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing a fight scene is very hard ;-; but I did my best. I might have to find help if I plan on writing a battle again.
> 
> The next chapter is pretty short, but I finally have more time to write since the play that I was in is over. Next week is finals week, then I'll be off and able to write.


	8. Home Sweet Home

The team waited for nearly fifty minutes on the surface until hunk and Shiro exited the cavern. Both of them were a bit beat up, and Shiro had two long claw marks going down his cheek, likely adding to the multitude of scars he already had. Hunk's armor was dented in a few places and there was a cut on his arm. One of the alchemists quickly patched the two of them up while the two of them explained what had happened with the beast.

"Turns out he's afraid of the water. We fell in, and man he just watched us. It was only like a foot deep but he wouldn't come for us," hunk said. He was laughing, amused at the turn of events.

"Even when we got out of the water, I guess he still didn't like that we were wet. He growled while we left the cavern, but he certainly didn't follow," added Shiro. 

Keith let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. Now, we can't kill anymore daylight. Lance needs help."

The trip back was uneventful. They traveled home the quick way, so the trip was cut to a much shorter two days. The Paladins used their helmets to seal the love bugs away from being able to bite them. They all wondered why this couldn't have happened in the first place. When they returned to the city, Lance was rushed to the Castle of Lions in order to be put into a healing pod immediately. The others went to speak with Lady Calla and Allura. At the time of returning, the two royals had been sitting in an elegantly-decorated lounge drinking tea, with a small waterfall trickling in the background. 

"Oh, you've returned," Allura exclaimed. She quickly stood and went to hug each paladin. "Wait- where's Lance?"

There was a moment of silence. Then, Shiro spoke up. "He was attacked in the caves. He was bleeding a lot, but he should be fine. There's no need to worry, princess."

Allura breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad he's alright. Was the mission successful?" 

At that moment, as if on cue, Remmi entered the room. "The mission was, indeed, a success. We have another crystal to power our beautiful city, thanks to Voltron."

Lady Calla stood and finally joined the group. "Thank you, Voltron. Without you, Valenci would have become an empty husk of a planet. You have your alliance. The people of Valenci will aid in anything you may need to defeat the Galra Empire." She bowed deeply. 

There was more diplomatic conversation between mostly Allura and Lady Calla. Shiro listened intently, but the others examined the room boredly. The Queen offered to prepare a feast in order to celebrate the alliance. Allura quickly agreed to the proposal.

The night was filled with dancing and music and delicious food, yet all Keith could think about was Lance. If he was ok, if he'd still be under the venom of the love bug. A part of him hoped that Lance would. Keith loved the attention. 

After the celebration, the Paladins and Allura were seen off into the Castle of Lions and Allura piloted them away from the Valenci system. Keith went straight for the healing room. The pod containing Lance rose and Keith stood in front of it, watching Lance. At this moment he figured this is probably something he'll be doing a lot until he wakes up. He sat on the floor, accepting his fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a short chapter! I needed to post something so that I don't just abandon this story, and this is all I could get. The next few chapters will be nice and long, though!


	9. Ignorance is Bliss

For nearly two days, Keith spent his time in the healing room, waiting for Lance to come out of that healing pod. Every now and then, someone would come in and check on him or bring him food. More often than not, it was Shiro or Hunk who would sit with him the longest. However, their reasons were quite different. Shiro was worried about Keith, his younger brother-figure. Hunk was worried for Lance. He had no idea what his condition was, but was content sitting with Keith and talking. Through their mutual worrying, the two grew closer although not enough for Keith to be swayed to leave.

"You know, sitting here and watching his pod won't make him leave any sooner. It needs time." Shiro entered the room.

"I know..." Keith was sitting with a pillow in his lap and a blanket around his shoulders. He had a book lying open in front of him and a few pens in the open spine of it. There were doodles of animals on the pages.

Shiro took a seat next to Keith. "You should come out... For at least a little bit... We're all really worried about you... Lance will be fine."

"You don't know that. He was /attacked/. He's still bleeding. He's still bruised. What if the healing pod doesn't heal him the whole way, Shiro? What then?" As he spoke, his voice steadily rose and got more frantic. Almost... Scared.

"Keith... Please. We know he'll be ok. We've gone into those pods in worse states and you know that," Shiro reminded keith with a hand on his shoulder. He kept his voice quiet and calm with the hope that Keith would feed off of the energy. 

Keith tried to speak but he stuttered out his argument and gave up with a groan of discontent. "Fine, Jesus Christ. You have me for an hour. But I'm coming right back here. I have to be the first to see him."

Keith stood with shiro's help and was led out of the room and into the common area where Coran was explaining an old Altean party game. Hunk and Pidge looked very excited to play and we're both asking a lot of questions because while it was a fun-sounding game, it was also very confusing. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, Keith will be gracing us with his presence tonight," Shiro gave a flourish presentation of Keith while Keith stood with his usual bored expression.

"For an hour," Keith corrected.

"For one hour," Shiro sarcastically corrected himself. The two sat and listened as Coran reiterated the rules of the game. Eventually they decided that the Paladins will just have to learn as they play since that'll make it all the easier. 

The group had lost track of time and ended up playing the party game for more than just an hour, Lance briefly leaving Keith's mind. Everyone was so caught up in the game that they hadn't noticed Lance shuffling quietly and tiredly into the lounge room. 

"Are you guys playing Charades or something," Lance inquired with a yawn.

Everyone simultaneously stopped everything they were doing and looked toward the source of the voice, laying their eyes on a still-cut and bruised Lance. The first to react was Keith. This is what he was waiting for and he wasn't there to have his long-planned intimate moment where he got to catch Lance in his arms when he fell out of the pod and maybe, just /maybe/ get a long-awaited kiss. But that's not what happened. He listened to Shiro and left the healing pod room. 

However, in this moment he wasn't really able to think much about it. Keith pushed past everyone and ran to Lance, hugging him as tight as he pleased.

"Ow, ow, ow..!" Lance exclaimed at the bone-crushing embrace. Keith quickly loosened his arms but made sure the hug really communicated how worried he had been for Lance's well-being.

It took a few seconds for lance's brain to truly process what was happening- and even then he was still confused- but his arms came up and rested on Keith's back. He was warm and felt safe. The other Paladins felt pretty awkward watching them, so to diffuse that awkwardness they all got up to join the hug, though they made sure Keith had enough time to have his intimate moment.

"We were so worried about you, man," Hunk said. 

"Guys, guys, I'm fine, really..." Lance almost had tears in his eyes. It felt so good to know he was cared about so much. "Things are kinda fuzzy... And I can't breathe very good... But I'm alive." He was almost in tears, but he wiped his eyes to hide it.

Everyone broke away and Keith stood back at arm's length to examine him. Then he remembered everything he wanted to talk to Lance about. "Lance, do you... Remember anything?"

Shiro chimed in quickly, "anything romance-related."

"Uh... No," Lance replied with a questioning tone. "I mean, that Lady Calla was pretty hot but I don't think I tried to get with her."

Keith groaned and rolled his eyes "why don't you ever remember this shit..?!" 

"Remember /what/," Lance questioned.

"You got bit by a bug and put under some love spell. You were /all over me/," Keith said, exasperated.

"Whoa... Calm down, Keith... Maybe it'll come back to me. What's the big deal?" Lance was confused, at the rest of the group was anxious to just calm Keith down.

Keith was fuming. Not only did he not get his planned intimate moment, but Lance didn't remember anything they had done together while Lance was under the influence of the Love Bug's venom. He groaned in frustration, and stormed off, yelling over his shoulder, "go fuck yourself, Lance!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy Holidays, everyone! My finals went amazing and break is under way, which means I get to write more often! Look forward to frequent updates on this fic in the next two weeks!


	10. More Than Meets the Eye

Lance was confused. He wanted to run after Keith, ask him what's wrong, but Allura and Shiro stopped him before he could take another step. Shiro shook his head, turning him back toward the group.

"Just give him time... He's been waiting for you to get out of the pod for days... This isn't how he wanted it to happen, so he's frustrated," Shiro said in an attempt to give Lance some closure to the conversation. 

"But, I'm fine now. I don't- I don't feel like jumping his bones anymore, I can be alone with him-"

Coran cut him off, "That's just the first stage of the love bug virus. They get progressively worse, but there's some time in between each where you feel absolutely fine."

Lance threw his head back with a deep, exasperated groan. "How much longer is this gonna last?" He drew out the last word in a whiny tone.

"Possibly a few more weeks. There's no telling how long it will take for the venom to leave your system. Of course we could try Altean methods of removing the venom, but since you're human there may be... Complications."

"What kind of methods," Pidge asked as she made the decision to be apart of the conversation.

"Well first we'd have to measure how much of the venom is in your system still, in order to know how long we can keep you in the tank-"

"I'm gonna stop you there Coran. Knowing Altean methods of doing... Absolutely anything, well, sorta leads me to assume that this isn't safe. Or fun. At all." Lance cut in. "I'm gonna stick to the au natural way of doing things."

"Isn't that what you said when you had that infection and has to be rushed to the ER three days after you found out you had it," Hunk interjected, reminding Lance.

"/this/- my dear friend- isn't an infection. Don't be rude."

Hunk let out a huff of air, feeling dejected. 

"If you want to let it flush out on it's own, that's perfectly safe- recommended, even. But the second stage is worse than the first. You may have to be restrained," Coran said, hoping to steer the conversation back to Lance's condition. 

"How is it worse," Pidge asked.

"The first half was very affectionate, yes. But it was fairly... Innocent. The second stage is much less innocent. You'll likely be sneaking away to find Keith alone, and take any opportunity to be alone with him. You may not even restrain yourself in public."

Lance grimaced. "How long until that starts?" 

"I'd give it a few hours."

"Should I... Try talking to him like... Before? Ooor...?"

Before Coran could answer, Shiro spoke up, "Lance, he's not mad at you. He's frustrated with himself. It's not a good idea to bring it up while he's still upset about it. Just wait until all of this passed." He gestured vaguely at Lance.

The next few hours were as you could guess. Lance counted the minutes it took for himself to feel any differently than he already did in that moment. He sat on the sidelines, watching the Altean game and acting as a ref for Coran. 

He gradually felt himself feel warmer and warmer, more and more uncomfortable and constricted. /God, is this what animals in heat feel like/, he wondered to himself. As the minutes inched by, so did images and fantasies of Keith. Some were simply memories- Keith trying to wind down in the pool, Keith stretching to start training, Keith in the middle of training- others were stretched fantasies; Keith sweaty and tired from the training simulator and taking off his shirt, Keith facing toward the water coming from the shower head in complete relaxation. And others, well, others were just plain dirty. Lance wanted those ones to go away the most. 

He tried to pay attention more to the game than to his thoughts, and it worked to be distracted by something else. But since time existed and passed, everyone got tired and decided to turn in. Lance was ushered into his room and Shiro offered to take first watch at his door. As he laid in bed, he was alone with his thoughts and fantasies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My phone, which has all of my writing for these fanfics, oh so conveniently broke during winter break, so I sadly wasn't able to keep my promise ;-; but on a better note, I was able to get all of my info backed up on a brand new one! I didn't lose any of my pre-written chapters! 
> 
> Aside from that, I hope everyone had a great holiday season and new year!  
> Happy update!
> 
> On a side note: I'm starting to do art commissions! I wouldn't normally advertise myself like this, but for my senior project (which is required to graduate) I'm in need of some kind of expensive supplies. If you'd like to help out with that, contact me through my Instagram, little_anxiety_plant. Prices are negotiable! I'm not picky ^.^


	11. Emotions can be a Bitch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is a little weird. It was originally meant to be two separate ones but I figured they'd just be too short to post separately. 
> 
> I hope it isn't too difficult to read!  
> If it is, I'll be sure to try and revise it so it's not too confusing.
> 
> Happy update <3

"Go fuck yourself, Lance!" My emotions took over and I couldn't help it, I just... Yelled at him then stormed off to find somewhere to be alone. I needed to be alone. Away from Lance's puppy-dog eyes, away from Shiro's judgement- fuck, away from /all of them/. Being around people never helped and everyone here knew it.

I considered my room, but turned left, down a different hall. My room is one of the first places they'd look for me. I found a really simply-furnished viewing room. It had two couches, a table, and a big window looking out a the endless sea of stars. I pressed a button on the wall for the doors to slide closed and threw myself onto one of the couches. For a moment, I enjoyed the silence. But then I realized I was alone with my thoughts. Everything came at me at once.

Fuck, why did I say that? I don't mean it, do I? No, no, I care about Lance. I at least didn't mean /that/ part.

Should I have mentioned the bonding moment? Maybe they didn't even realize what I was talking about. Or they thought it didn't mean a whole lot to me. /of course/ it meant a lot to me. Shiro would know. Who else but him to talk about all my feelings. Ugh. Gross. At least he doesn't make fun of me for it.

I hate feeling like this all the time. And instead of talking to Lance about this I bottle it all up until I explode. Why do I do that? 

I stared at the stars, pointing out constellations I thought I saw even though we're Millions of lightyears away from from our constellations, and it's not like I knew what those ones were, either, but it's relaxing to pretend to find the patterns. 

I drummed my fingers on the arm of the couch, remembering how confused Lance seemed when I yelled at him. He looked hurt. It's not like I meant it, but he probably thought I did. Cause I'm an idiot like that. Maybe I should tell him I'm sorry. But hurt my pride like that? Not a chance. He should be apologizing to me for not remembering all the times I've saved his ass or taken care of his unconscious body. I'm a good person. I don't deserve this shit.

Even just writing all of this down makes me feel too vulnerable. I guess it helps. I should thank Pidge for picking it up for me. Guess it was kind of a blessing in disguise. Whatever. 

-K

Meanwhile....

Lance tossed and turned on his bed, his body getting tangled in the blankets and his pillow slowly getting pushed off the bed. He was startled awake by the heat that had accumulated in his room. He sat up in bed, wiggling out of the blankets around his legs. He sat on the edge of the bed, his breathing quicker than it usually would be. He was so uncomfortable and the room was unusually stuffy.

He looked down at his legs. /oh, right, I'm in heat/. He groaned in frustrated, "aye dios mio..." He muttered as he rubbed his face and let his eyes adjust to the dark. He stood up and went to the door, trying to open it over and over. Each try was just as successful as the last.

He tried to remember who had been on watch but his mind wasn't really on his side today. All his body wanted was either a cold shower or sweet, sexual release. He was hoping to just get by with the former. 

"Aye..! déjame salir, ¡necesito orinar..!" Lance banger on the door, hoping he'd be let out.

After a few agonizing seconds, the door slid opened reveal Shiro. Lance was about to speak before Shiro interrupted, stopping him.

"When we get to the bathroom, I'm only giving you a few minutes. You can't be alone for very long. Got it?"

Lance squinted his eyes since they weren't adjusted to the bright lights of the hall. "Yeah, whatever, just- /rapido/."

Shiro led him to the bathroom and allowed him a few minutes to be alone so he can pee in peace. Lance had a hard time getting it going. So long in fact that Shiro had come in the check on him.

"That's two-"

"I haven't even started..! God, give me a break!"

With that, Shiro left with his hands raised in defense. It took some serious will power and a few long minutes for Lance to actually pee. Once he was done, he washed his hands and found Shiro outside the room. Shiro led him back to lance's room.

Once again, Lance was very uncomfortable. He laid on his bed staring at the ceiling for what felt like hours before sleep finally stole him away, but of course it wasn't without a few erotic dreams and a mess in his pants to deal with in the morning.


	12. Is it Really Exploitation?

The next few days were, for a lack of a better word, rough. Keith didn't exactly avoid the group, but he didn't stay close to them for very long at a time. Whenever he was close, Lance would try to jump his bones any chance he could get and when Keith was gone, Lance was away and looking for Keith. It had gotten so bad that Shiro actually asked Pidge and Hunk if they could put together a harness so they'd never lose sight of Lance. It took about a day, but by the end of it, Lance was on a harness. Pidge thought it looked hilarious. Hunk thought he looked like a kid on a leash.

The night after the harness was hunk's watch. Lance had devised a plan to sneak out and find Keith and /finally/ get what he so desperately needed. He stole a gadget from Pidge before he was put on the harness and hid it away in his room. All it did was unlock any of the doors in the castle from either side, but it was obviously perfect. 

Well into the middle of the night, Lance attached the device and unlocked the door. Just as he had suspected, Hunk was asleep. He snuck past Hunk and down the hall. He turned left, and Keith's room was in sight. His paces became quicker until he was right outside. He knocked quietly. Behind the door, he could hear footsteps. He could feel his heart in his throat. 

The door opened and there Keith was. In Lance's eyes he looked absolutely amazing in this moment. His hair was messy and in a bun and he was definitely only half asleep. Lance didn't plan on saying anything from the beginning so he just stepped in and the door slid closed behind him. Keith was obviously confused.

"Lance, how did you get in here? Aren't you being watched...?"

"Hunk was asleep. I wanted to see you. I missed you." Lance didn't sound like himself.

"That's... Sweet, but-"

"And I was so horny. I need you, Keith." Lance's arms were balanced on Keith's shoulders and his hands were joined behind his neck. "I don't like waiting so long."

Keith's face went bright red and he tensed up completely. He knew Lance would be kinda hot and heavy, but he didn't know it would make him so bold. He immediately wanted to take advantage of the situation. His tired mind told him there was nothing wrong with it. He said something that he would definitely regret in the morning. "What's stopping you?"

Lance took this approval very well and instead of kissing Keith, he dove toward his neck and kissed there. Keith tilted his head to the side and settled his hands on lance's hips, pulling his body closer. Lance responded in kind, pushing keith’s shirt up from the hem and pulling it off of his body, dropping it carelessly on the floor. As usual, Keith had to have control in the situation, so he pushed lance off of himself and onto his bed. 

Lance bounced slightly at the contact, holding himself up by his hands. He raised and eyebrow and smirked at Keith. “Getting a little rough, huh?”

Keith unbuckled his belt. “I’m just getting started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I haven’t worked on this in a while. But I also don’t wanna give up on it just yet!
> 
> Happy update!


	13. Oops

“Onto your stomach.”

As Lance followed the command, Keith watched intently. He glanced at the door for a moment before getting onto the bed and straddling lance’s legs. He ran his hands up lance’s sides and down his back. His skin was soft and he could feel lance’s muscles. He never noticed before. But right now, in lance’s position with his arms under the pillow his head is laying on, Keith had a great view of all the muscles in his arms and back.

He moved down to lance’s butt. He knew it was a great ass. Everyone did. But right now he was the one touching it. He massaged and rubbed and slowly pulled lance’s pants off. He was wearing briefs. One of lance’s hands moved down toward his crotch but Keith smacked it away.

“I didn’t tell you you could touch yourself,” he said. His voice was low and full of authority. “Keep both your hands up.”

Lance nodded, burying his very red face into the pillow. Keith forcibly pulled lance’s hips up so that he was in a more effective doggy position. Just as he was about to pull lance’s underwear down, the door to his room whirred open and there was Shiro, first disappointed but then completely shocked. 

“Keith, what are you doing?!”

Lance, hazy but embarrassed, moved out of his compromising position to sit up. Both boys faces went completely red. Keith was automatically defensive.

“I don’t- I was- he came to me! I didn’t force him into anything!” 

“It doesn’t matter- Keith-“ shiro groaned in frustration and took a deep breath. “Lance. Pick up your clothes and go to your room.” As lance was doing as he was told, shiro added a “and don’t think you’re getting out of this easy.”

Once lance had left the room, shiro quickly sprang into a lecture with Keith. “Keith, it doesn’t /matter/ that lance approached you. We have told you so many times that he doesn’t know what he’s doing in this condition. He’s like a dog in heat. All he wants to do is hump you.”

“We’re both adults, who cares?”

“No, Keith. That’s not the problem. I couldn’t care less if you two were having sex. But what makes this different is that he’s not in his right mind to consent. He may act like he wants it now but what if he doesn’t later?” Shiro crosses his arms. “You’d get one night of action and a ruined relationship.”

Keith opened his mouth for a snarky remark, but shut right up. Shiro was right. He’d rather not ruin his friendship with lance. “Fine. Whatever. Leave me alone.” He turned away from shiro.

Shiro sighed. He quietly left the room and headed toward lance’s. He knocked before going in, for precautionary measures. Lance let it slide open. He looked guilty and exhausted. Shiro stepped in and made sure the door whirred closed.

Shiro already knew exactly what he was going to say. “I know you aren’t able to control yourself right now, lance. But we really need you to try. If you sleep with Keith while you’re like this, you’re just going to ruin your friendship.” 

Lance nodded. “I-I know...” he sat on his bed, defeated. “Just— thinking about him, looking at him... I’m not even gay..!” 

“We just have to keep you two separated until you’re ok... Coran said it’s only supposed o be a few more days. Then you two are gonna have to have a long talk,” shiro replied.

“But—“ 

Shiro cut him off. “No objections. I’m not giving you a choice. Now go to sleep.” He left the room and lance was alone.


End file.
